Memes have become a crucial part of the communication landscape. Busy people enjoy the clever, catchy nature of their compact yet profound messages. It’s incredible how creative meme-makers can pack such a powerful message into just one image!
Social sites have evolved to become more than just a place to meet new friends and connect with old ones, but also a place to enjoy gaming, buy or sell something, and even earn money as a streamer.
At the start of 2021, there were as many as 4.33 billion social media users worldwide. That’s a whopping 55% of the world’s population!
With so many sources of information available to social media users on the internet, it’s not surprising that brands have also evolved to adapt to this huge digital market.
Just imagine the wealth of things you can do online. You can even find digital fashion from the world’s biggest brands for your online avatars and game characters!
Traditional media such as magazines, newspapers, TV, and radio continue to exist, yet they’re also scrambling to keep up with digital culture or risk losing everything. That’s why news outlets and even radio stations now have social media pages and websites. They even have online ads.
Facebook remains the top social media platform in the world with over 2.7 billion monthly active users. Thus, it’s not surprising that brands are tapping into this market through Facebook ads.
Digital marketing tools such as buying ad space from Google and Facebook continue to work for many companies, yet brands are also exploring what memes can do.
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Reasons to Use Memes in Digital Marketing
In our high-tech world, where almost everything can be done online meme creator online, it’s crucial to be on top of your game by tapping into the digital market – and memes might just be the perfect vehicle for your success.
So, why use memes?
Memes Are Easy to Understand
Memes are designed to look simple and easy to understand, and pack a great deal of messaging into a single image. It’s not uncommon to find memes that use well-known movie characters or famous lines from trending topics. Almost everyone can understand what most memes are about.
Memes Are Inexpensive Content
Although you’ll need to find creative people on your team who can create memes that will work for your brand, remember that memes are inexpensive. Just imagine the reach you’d get if one of your brand memes became a viral hit! You wouldn’t even have to pay for ad space.
Memes can drive results
Trending topics come and go, but once they go viral, people don’t forget about them for a long time. This will promote brand recall for your company if you create an impactful meme that resonates with your target audience.
Memes incite shares
Memes are funny, clever, and so simple. A cleverly created meme incites shares. That’s the reason why many have gone viral – and you can still see many older ones circulating on social media today.
Memes Support a Sense of Community
By sharing memes, we find a sense of community as we align ourselves with like-minded people. Humans are social beings. So, belonging to that online community, even if we don’t really know everyone in there, makes us feel a sense of security and happiness.
Memes support brand relevance
People get easily bored in this fast-paced world of instant gratification. Just consider those who impatiently wait for the ‘Skip Ad’ button to appear so they can click it and return to the video they were watching.
With memes, brands can tap into the DigitalAX and remain relevant and fresh.
You’d be surprised at how many famous brands are using modern memes in their ads. What makes this work so well is that the ad is cleverly hidden yet also so evident within the meme. Luxury fashion house, Gucci, was among those that jumped on this trend, releasing hilarious but very relatable memes. Not everyone can afford to buy Gucci merchandise, but many had a good laugh about the memes and readily shared them!
How to Use Memes
There’s no question that memes are among the most powerful tools on today’s digital marketing scene. You just have to learn how to use them to your advantage.
Repurpose Existing Memes
Memes are easy to make, and many apps offer meme templates that even have suggestions on what text to include. Take advantage of these, particularly if you’re still starting out. Find a template that you think will be relevant to your brand and audience, then apply some clever wording. Voila! Your meme is ready.
Create Original Memes
But if you want to really go viral, don’t use a recycled meme. Create an original that your audience can relate to. To do this, browse the internet for relevant images or even videos that you can make GIFs from. Next, think of how these could relate to the brand and whether people will relate to your meme through your brief commentary or caption.
Develop Your Meme Library
Don’t wait for one meme to go viral before making another. Start building your meme library using fresh or recycled content. This way, you can also improve your skills in meme-making.
Incorporate Memes in Your Social Media Content
Brands can stay relevant by keeping up with current trends. So, when a significant event happens, you can ride on its fame but with a spin that relates to your brand. For example, Samsung took advantage of Apple’s decision to stop including chargers and headphones with each new device it sold by announcing that their phones are sold complete with these items in the box.
Make Sure the Meme Matches Your Brand Voice
Bear in mind that memes don’t appeal to everyone, but they do enjoy a large following of people who love reading and sharing them on social media. Always remember that when making your memes.
But also make sure that you don’t make memes just for the sake of making them. Be sure that they match your brand voice. Think about your target audience and how you can ensure they relate to your brand through your memes.
Who knows? One of those creations could hit the jackpot and become a viral meme one day soon!